"Moby Dick" as a mythologism and a novel-parable

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Azerbaijan University

“Moby Dick” as a mythologism and a novel-parable

Eyyubova Z.K.

Annotation

The object of research in the article is Melville's novel “Moby Dick”. The high level of conventionality, allegory, unusual characters and events, the search for generalizing characters and ethical and moral absolutism characteristic of mythological prose, the attempt to create universal situations express the parable essence of the novel.

The model of human existence is created through special temporal and spatial relationships. Here time seems to condense and universalize. It combines three layers of time: past, present and future.

“Moby Dick” is an author's parable. The author's parable is an independent and original work of art with perfect characters, with a detailed plot. That is, the sea can be read both as an adventure novel and as a large mythological text, a parable.

An analysis of the composition and poetics of Moby Dick shows that Melville's important artistic discovery in this novel is that he finds a type of thinking and an appropriate structure of artistic expression, which determines his penetration into the depth of phenomena that allow him to understand the essence of human existence and reality. Myth or mythological thinking become means of artistic expression of universal equality and brotherhood between people, close and organic connection of man and nature.

The main features of the parable genre - moralizing, teaching - are present in the plot of the novel, the system of images and its individual episodes at the implicit level. This work not only expresses the basic concept of American Romanticism about man and being, but is also an epic embodiment of the author's philosophical worldview about society. “Is there a divine principle in human nature?” to question X. Melville answers in the negative.

Key words: American novel, myth, parable, allegory, adventure novel.

Анотація

Ейюбова З.К. «Мобі Дік» як міфологізм і роман-притча

Об'єктом дослідження у статті є роман Мелвілла «Мобі Дік». Високий рівень умовності, алегоричності, незвичайність характерів і подій, пошук узагальнюючих характерів та етико- морального абсолютизму, характерні для міфологічної прози, спроба створення універсальних ситуацій висловлюють сутність роману. Модель існування створюється через особливі тимчасові і просторові відносини. Тут час ніби ущільнюється тауніверсалізується. Він поєднуєу собі три шари часу: минуле, сьогодення та майбутнє. «Мобі Дік» - авторська притча. Авторська притча - самостійний і своєрідний художній твір з досконалими характерами, з розгорнутим сюжетом. Тобто море можна читати як пригодницький роман, і як великий міфологічний текст, притчу.

Аналіз композиції та поетики «Мобі Діка» показує, що важливим художнім відкриттям Мелвілла в цьому романі є те, що він знаходить тип мислення та відповідну структуру художнього вираження, що обумовлює його проникнення в глибину явищ, що дозволяють зрозуміти сутність людського буття та дійсності. Міф або міфологічне мислення стають засобами художнього вираження загальної рівності та братерства між людьми, тісного та органічного зв'язку людини та природи.

Основні ознаки жанру притчі - моралі, повчання - присутні в сюжеті роману, систему образів та окремих його епізодах на імпліцитному рівні. Це твір як висловлює основну концепцію американського романтизму про людину і буття, а й є епічним втіленням філософського світогляду про суспільство. «Чи є у людській природі божественне начало? питанням Х. Мелвилл відповідає негативно».

Ключові слова: американський роман, міф, казка, алегорія, пригодницький роман.

Problem statement

For American literature, it is traditional to narrate to conditionally generalized forms of vocabulary. Myths and parables occupy an important place among the forms of this narrative. Myth and parable are forms that are internally related to each other. The parable as a genre of didactic orientation arose on the basis of a myth. And the myth becomes the bearer of the ideas of public morality, which have lost their ambiguity when it comes to the problems of moral choice. Myth and parable, using the means of artistic imagery, are also structurally close.

Myths and parables, the constructions of which are “filled” with conditional, symbolic meaning, to one degree or another occupy a dominant position at all major stages of the literary process in the United States, especially during the “American Renaissance”. It should also be noted that, although the myth and the ways of its adaptation to the structure of the plots of the novel have been widely studied, the parable as a genre and a way of artistic generalization of reality has not been studied enough.

The urgency of the problem also lies in the fact that the parable of a number of samples of American prose is not widely interpreted in individual monographs, dissertations, genealogy and the specifics of the parable are not taken into account. Apparently, the roots of the parable should be sought in the tradition and practice of the Puritans of New England.

The purpose of the work. The purpose of the article is to interpret individual images as mythological texts - mythologisms, to search for archetypal images of characters.

Presentation of the main material

Another interesting theoretical and methodological issue is the definition of “dividing lines” between myth and parable, myth and parabola, which, being a broad problem, are not included in the topic of the article.

Myth and parable-genre forms, “genre essence”, defining the poetics and aesthetics of the novels of American romantics [6].

The tendency to philosophical and ethical generalizations is one of the leading trends in the creative work of the “American Renaissance” era. The American novel of the Romantic era is being formed as a directed genre. From legends about pioneers, sea adventures, Hindu epics, the national consciousness of Americans is formed, their peculiar moral code is formed, which is criticized by writers and becomes a place of exile. American romantics, paying attention to philosophical and moral problems, willingly included in their plots myths belonging to various mythological systems, which are an integral part of the national consciousness. In order to create certain symbolic associations among readers, myth was used in the works as a compositional principle, as well as in the artistic texture of the text at separate structural levels.

They saw great opportunities not only in the content of the myth, but also in the structure of the myth. They are interested in eternal, timeless spiritual conflicts and intrigues. That is why the literature actualizes artistic forms-parable and myth, reflecting spiritual and philosophical views on the world and man. In the parables of the American Romantics, ethical and aesthetic tasks are inseparable, they are in organic unity with each other, in the centre of the plot and narrative is not an image, but a situation. A hero is not just a carrier of some spiritual values, but a thinking, mobile being.

Hawthorne's work “the red letter” is one of the interesting examples of the novel-parable. The aesthetics of the parable influenced the formation of the figurative system of the Novel. Contrasting depiction of reality is also a tradition from the parable.

H. Melville is also one of the first creators of myths in American literature. “Undoubtedly, the myth acts as a factor determining the originality of the ideological content of a number of works, including Melville's famous novel Moby Dick” [2, p. 151]. In this work, he skilfully combined poetic and philosophical techniques in depicting reality.

In Melville's works, the biblical myth does not act as a cosmogonic model that maintains order between the forces of Chaos and the cosmos, but as an axiological model. The myth is being reinterpreted; the problems of spirituality come to the fore. The images of Jesus Christ, David, Jacob, Job become for romantic's symbols of the struggle against tyranny and injustice.

Nazirli, the translator of the novel into Azerbaijani and the author of the preface, writes: “It is this thought that determines the main genre features of the novel “Moby Dick”. It represents holistic solutions and synthesis of various modifications of novel genres (marine, social, educational, adventure novels). This aspect brought the work somewhat closer to the genre of the philosophical novel. It is the dynamism of the author's thought that forms the core of the special figurative structure of the work” [1, p. 11].

In general, Melville's books (for example, “Taipei”, “Omu”) are semi-novels. If we consider that the plots of novels are based on intrigues and conflicts, then Melville's stories are not the plots of a novel. This is at best a cycle of essays, a description of adventures with numerous boundaries that attract the reader with the exoticism and unusual nature of the events described. The pace of Melville's prose, especially the novel “Moby Dick”, is intermittent, inaccurate, calm and mediocre.

This novel has a difficult reader's fate. Because the work is multifaceted, risky, experimental. Unexpected moments await the reader throughout the reading.

To begin with, the novel has an unusual genre symbiosis. This is a sea adventure novel in the American spirit. There is a strong influence of the English maritime novel in it.

Since the mid-19th century, whaling novels have become popular in America. It was during the heyday of whaling that Moby Dick appeared, which, naturally, was considered another whaling adventure novel.

Another element of the novel genre is the treatise on the whale. The flow of research is often interrupted by judgments, classifications, and scientific statements. The researcher is playing a “scientific research game”: he classifies whales, and this classification is semi- scientific and semi-ironic. He studies the structure and behaviour of whales. Almost a separate chapter is devoted to each organ of the whale.

In addition, hunting tools, hunting tactics, butchering of whale carcasses, the use of whale meat, bones and fat are described in detail.

The most interesting thing is that in these scientific and production games, the whale also acts as a text [5]. The whale itself is a text. Indeed, in his classification of whales, the narrator uses old publishing terms: whales infolio, whales in quarto, whales duo decima, і.e. whales of large, medium and small formats. He wants to read the whale as a book, as a text.

By the way, researchers also note the influence of Shakespeare's tragedies on Moby Dick. This influence is manifested in Shakespearean quotations, dramatic writing of fragments, theatrical and passionate monologues of the characters, archaic language.

Hence even the desire to look for archetypal images of characters. “In general, considering that the novel is somewhere connected with the historical nature of religions and sacred books, we think that the name Ismail is taken from the sacred books, as well as other names in the work, and in fact it is more suitable to the name of Ismail we know from hadiths” [1, p. 10].

The analysis and observations of American and Soviet literary critics show that the relationship between myth and parable in Melville is quite complex and manifests itself at different structural levels. That is, both ancient Egyptian and Jewish mythological models and Greek myths (the Myth of Prometheus) intersect here. Therefore, researchers can apply the psychoanalytic archetypes of Freud and Jung to the analysis of the text. A series of stalking, chasing, killing and bullying the whale each time ends with a symbolic “cleansing” of the sailors. For the team, the White Whale is a mythological dragon, and its death symbolizes the beginning of a new life. mythological philosophical romanticism melville moby dick

If the myth directly represents the concreteness of the novel, then the parable generalization contains abstract levels. K. Nazirli rightly notes that “the writer's penchant for symbolic abstractions and generalizations does not detach the work from the political, economic and social realities of modern America. Almost every character in the novel has an essence between numerous and different shades of meaning, which is directly related to the life and fate of the United States. The simplest example is that an American flag is hung on a ship of different nationalities and races, and the ship sails under the American flag. It can be written in different ways. But it seems to us that this is primarily the America of different peoples. He sails to unknown shores by the boundless waters of history” [1, p. 13]. The beginning of the parable allows us to look at reality from different sides. In this case, the parable acts as a model. Therefore, concrete realities of life are perceived as rational constructions with conditional, symbolic meanings.

It is believed that Melville combined primitive ritual, Greek myth, biblical legend and folklore stories about supernatural beings in his novel to create a single metaphorical language of the novel. In Moby Dick, the theme of whaling is complicated by the motive of rebellion against God, which is the main metaphorical line of the novel.

In 1963, the American literary critic B. Frankley published a monograph entitled “The Awakening of the Gods: The Mythology of Melville”. This serious research work is considered in detail in A. Kozlov's book “The Mythological trend in American literary Studies” (we refer to it). According to Franklin's historical and etymological sources, the cosmic struggle of Ahab and Moby Dick is based on the ancient Egyptian myths about Osiris and Typhon. Melville also saw the source of Judaism in Egyptian mythology. That's why his Moby Dick is both Typhon and Leviathan. After the battle with the White Whale, he lay “dead” for three days and three nights. This is both Osiris and Jesus Christ.

The image of Moby Dick can also be written in different forms. Is it fate or divine will; God or the devil; necessity or nature itself? It is difficult to answer the questions unequivocally. Moby Dick is a riddle, a symbol that contains different meanings. On the other hand, by encrypting the text, we limit its variability of meaning, the mythological poetry of the image. As Susan Sontag says in her famous essay: “interpretation sharpens the text, brings it to the reader's level” [3, p. 255].

But the symbolic images of the novel involuntarily catch the eye. The rudder of the ship “Pekoda” is made of the jaw of a whale. Mepplin's ship-shaped chair preaches about Ion in the belly of a whale. The Pequod sinks with the raven ship circling above the flag on the Dora tree. Representatives of different peoples gathered on the ship, from the Parsis to Polynesia. But Ahab and the whole squad “Pekoda” are not Ancient Gods, but just people. They sacrifice themselves by choosing rebirth. Only one of them is saved: the one who is able not to fight “chaos”, “darkness”, but to take the position of an observer who understands a person.

Some romantic novels are realized as mythological archetypes that determine the skills and actions of the main characters. In addition, some plots and images develop in the genre of romantic novels, have a generalizing and instructive meaning, rise to the level of a parable. The parable is one of the main forms of generalization of these works. The beginning of the parable gives a new and different scale to interesting sea adventure novels, one of which is undoubtedly Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

An analysis of the composition and poetics of Moby Dick shows that Melville's important artistic discovery in this novel is that he finds a type of thinking and an appropriate structure of artistic expression, which determines his penetration into the depth of phenomena that allow him to understand the essence of human existence and reality. Myth or mythological thinking become means of artistic expression of universal equality and brotherhood between people, close and organic connection of man and nature.

In Moby Dick, the paradoxical resolution of the main conflict is reflected in the figurative-character system of the work. In particular, the characteristics of collective consciousness are “distributed” among the heroes of the book. For example, the desire for wealth “materializes” in the image of Wildad. The concepts of honour and duty are the source of Starbuck's tragedy, and moral nihilism becomes the basis of Stubb's behaviour.

The images in the novel are typed and generalized. Although this is not really characteristic of critical realism, it is a typical way of typification for Romanticism: by highlighting or comparing the dominant features of each character, one or another proboscis sometimes acts as an ideal image. In this case, the situation takes the form of a parabola - a parable that turns into a metaphorical situation with subtext symbolism. “Moby Dick” has a large number of parabolas and is distinguished by its artistic expressiveness. There are parabolas in the work, which are formed by combining different episodes with several semantic centers. In the work and in the compositional plan, too, exhausted parabolas come across. For example, the story of Taung. Each parabola performs certain local functions in relation to one or another part of the plot, but by creating symbols and metaphysical abstraction in a conceptual order, it essentially creates counterpoints to the work.

G. Melville summarizes the described event with irony, grotex, parabolization of the plot, adapting it to mythological structures, showing the archetypal roots of images.

Finally, we add that the American myth originated as a Roman myth. If the Roman myth found its brightest embodiment in Virgil's Aeneid, then the American myth is an act of collective creativity. This myth can be restored with the help of a collection of essays, poems, short stories and dates.

The formation of the American myth can be associated with the ethical, religious and philosophical aspirations of America. G. Melville's novel “Moby Dick” played an important role in the formation of national myths at the early stages of the development of the American nation. Melville is not mythological in Moby Dick, referring only to the names of the prophets and comparing the whale to Leviathan. Like W. Blake and Novalis, he creates his own myth, an allegorical myth, but vivid, convincing. Meletinsky in his book “The Poetics of Myth” (1976) “calls the construction of artistic reality at the level of a plot-motif on a mythological stereotype “mythologism” [4, p. 117]. We see bright and rich examples of mythology in the American literature of the XIX century. G. Melville is at the forefront of the creators of mythology. “Moby Dick” is a production and mythological novel reflecting the spirit of the American nation.

Conclusions

Thus, the overall picture of the works created during the “American Renaissance” and G. Melville's novel “Moby Dick” show that in the American literature of the XIX century, preference is given to the method of parables, the genre of the novel-parable is being formed. Like a myth, the parable is included in the literary and artistic turnover as a result of writers mastering the folklore of different epochs and peoples and appears as an integral mythological system. Biblical plots and images form the background of the novel. If the myth increases the scale of individual elements of the story, then the parable generalizes and implements it from the standpoint of universal values.

References

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